Summer Break Two: Fessing Up Is Hard To Do
by KievaLynn
Summary: Kieva Lynn's Season Three Sequel; Guardians of the Multiverse Prequel. Taranee, Elyon, and Hay Lin are ready to tell their boyfriends the truth. How will this decision work out for them? Here's hoping Alborn, Peter, and Cassidy can help out with any troubles!


Standard Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy, or any of their related characters/concepts, nor any other properties whose characters/concepts appear in this story. This is a work of fan fiction.

Author's Note: This is the second in a series of one-shots which take place after the events of "Kieva Lynn's Season Three" and before the events of my next major W.I.T.C.H. story, the Final Fantasy Seven crossover "Guardians of the Multiverse." These tales will all take place in the summer break between the guardians' eighth and ninth grade, and will serve to fill loose ends left over from the previous story and provide foreshadowing for the next. In this chapter, Taranee, Elyon, and Hay Lin prepare to tell their boyfriends the truth…

Summer Break Two: "Fessing Up Is Hard To Do"

OOOOOOO

Meridian. Taranee sat staring into space, thinking hard on how to handle the task that was drawing sooner with each passing day. "How hard can it be?" She thought to herself. "After all, Wll, Irma, Cassidy, telling their boyfriends worked out okay for them… Heck, it even worked out for Miranda and Gideon… Then again, Matt finding out led to Shagon and Martin almost got kidnapped by Prince Garix…"

"Um, Tara?" Asked Hey Lin who was seated next to her, "You're thinking so hard we can hear it."

"Totally." Elyon agreed.

Taranee shook her head. "Sorry girls. But aren't you two worried about this?"

"Of course we are!" Elyon said. "But, we've agreed it's the right thing to do right?"

"Right! So let's put aside our worries and start planning out how we're gonna do this! After all that's why we're together here right?" Hay Lin said.

Nodding, Taranee said "Okay. You're right… So, the first question is, do we do this all at once, or individually?"

"Ordinarily I would say all at once." Elyon mused, "But since my dad's decided to invite himself along as chaperone I think we should maybe handle it individually, if only because it's our only real chance of getting privacy."

"Why did he pull that anyway? It's a given the campsite will be crawling with hidden royal guards, one more's not going to make a difference." Taranee asked.

"Keeping up appearances?" Hay Lin guessed.

"Partly that, yes." Elyon agreed, "But also I think he's thinking that the guys might need an adult to talk to afterwards."

Taranee looked across the table at Elyon. "Huh. I didn't even think of that, and it's a good point. Though Alborn might be too much of an adult for what might be needed… I'd almost be tempted to ask Peter and Cass to come along."

"Good idea."

"Yeah… I'll talk to them once we're back on Earth."

"That takes care of the first question then." Hay Lin said, "Now what's the second?"

With a sigh Taranee spelled out the second question: "It's like this. Remember that they were in the school gym when the Dominators blew our cover. They saw, but now thanks to the Oracle's memory-wipe spell they remember seeing the Guardians but not that it was us. How are they gonna react to that? To knowing their memories were altered?"

"They could react badly." Elyon whispered.

"Sure they could." Hay Lin said. "But I still say we do this. I mean, if they react badly they react badly, it's gonna happen sooner or later right?"

"Yeah… And if they break up with us and tell people?" Taranee asked pointedly.

"Well…"

"Yeah. 'Well.'"

"C'mon you two, we know these guys!" Elyon argued. "It's Joel, Nigel, Eric! Maybe… _Maybe_… they won't be able to handle it. Maybe one or more of them will leave. But telling the world on us? I can't believe any of them would ever do that."

"Yeah, you're right." Taranee smiled. "I'm worrying too much."

"Great! Now let's get to work on the important part of planning a camping trip: The food!" The girls all laughed…

WWWWWWW

And so it was that two weeks after the trio's meeting the fateful day finally came. Cassidy and Peter had in fact agreed to come and so the group rode to the park in two vehicles and hiked through the thick forests south of Heatherfield for nearly three hours before coming to the most remote and private campsite available. Three tents were pitched, a large one for the girls, and two smaller ones, one for Alborn and Peter, the other for the younger boys.

For the remainder of the first day and the morning of the second, nothing was said regarding the girl's real reason for the trip. Everyone simply relaxed and enjoyed themselves. It was during lunch that Elyon thought to the other girls "So are we doing this thing or not?"

"Right after lunch?" Taranee thought back.

Hay Lin agreed "Sounds good. I'll see if I can get Eric to take a private walk on the south trail."

"Okay then, El, you want east or west trail?" Taranee asked.

"East." Elyon answered.

"Then we're all settled." Taranee thought. "Good luck both of you."

"You too Tara." Elyon and Hay Lin both thought.

Soon enough lunch was finished, and each of the three girls took her boyfriend aside and whispered to him about taking a walk. As planned, Hay Lin and Eric went south, Elyon and Joel east, and Taranee and Nigel west.

Watching them go, Peter glanced over to Cassidy and asked "How do you think this is gonna pan out?"

"It's hard to tell."

"Let's just be here for whoever needs it." Alborn said. "This shouldn't take long…"

WWWWWWW

===Taranee and Nigel===

Taranee and Nigel walked along the path that led westward from the campsite. For awhile, they just walked in silence enjoying each other's presence. In time, they came to a treeless hill sloping down to a lake and sat at the edge of the water. "So, it's really nice out here." Nigel said. "I've always liked getting out in the wilds like this."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it." Taranee said as she leaned over to kiss him.

After the kiss Nigel continued "Of course this isn't really 'the wilds,' I mean it's just a state park. Pretty close though."

"Nige, we're so far out here I've not seen anyone not in our group in two days. That's more than close enough for me." She chuckled.

"So what's bothering you?"

Taranee stared at Nigel in surprise. "What makes you think something's bothering me?"

"There's a look you get in your eyes." He replied. "And you've got it big-time right now."

"Heh. I'll have to work on that… Look, Nigel… The thing of it is, I've got something to tell you. Something big and important. And I'm worried about how you might take it."

Serious now, Nigel looked Taranee in her eyes and said "Okay, you've got me nervous now. But if it's big and important to you then it matters to me too."

Steeling herself to proceed, Taranee said "Nigel… I'm one of the Guardians."

Nigel laughed. "Oh come on Tara, be serious. We all saw the Guardians at the school gym that night."

"You saw but you don't remember." Taranee explained. "After it was over, the Oracle, oh, that's the guy who's kind of in charge, you saw him that night too, he cast a spell that altered everyone's memories. He wanted to keep our identities secret."

"You're carrying this one all the way aren't you?" Nigel asked, still not believing. "Okay then, if you're a Guardian, prove it."

"Well… Alright…" Taranee said. She sighed. She hadn't wanted to do this, but his disbelief left her with little choice. She stood, and pointed out a mat of straw and tree branches floating in the water. "See that?" Nigel nodded affirmative, then jumped back as Taranee created a fireball and threw it at the mat, which burned away to nothing in seconds.

Nigel stared in awe at the spot where the floating mat had been, then in equal awe at his girlfriend. For her part, Taranee shrunk back, trying to give him the space he might need. "You were serious." He finally said.

"Yeah."

"Well…" Climbing to his feet, Nigel walked to Taranee, stood in front of her. "Why didn't you tell me before now? I mean, didn't you trust me?"

"It's not like that Nige… It's a really long story, actually. In it's simplest form, none of us told anyone else at first. We thought it was just supposed to be kept a secret that way. Then later when the whole 'Queen Neera-Dominators' thing started we HAD to keep quiet because anyone who didn't know was safe from her."

"I guess that makes sense."

Taranee risked a slight smile. "So, are we okay?"

"Yeah. I mean I'm freaked right now, but yeah. I'll be okay. And so will we." Nigel took Taranee in his arms. "So… Do the other girls know about this?"

Laughing, Taranee said "You get two guesses what Elyon and Hay Lin are talking about with the other guys right now."

"Seriously!?" Nigel laughed. "Man o man… This just gets better and better…"

WWWWWWW

===Hay Lin and Eric===

"This camping trip was a great idea." Eric said as he walked by Hay Lin's side.

"Yeah… I mean really, how often do we get to just relax and have fun like this?"

Eric chuckled. "No kidding. You know Hay Lin, I feel kinda bad bringing this up, but have you ever kept track of just how often our dates get interrupted by your friends? I mean, don't get me wrong, I like your friends, it's just that it happens so often that even right now, out in the middle of nowhere, I almost expect Will of Cornelia or someone to come running out of the brush and pull you away."

"Yeah. Eric, I'm really sorry about all that. In fact…" Hay Lin stopped, turned Eric to face her and took both of his hands in hers. "There's something I need to tell you. It'll explain all of those times I had to take off with the others…"

"This should be interesting." Eric said.

Hay Lin nodded. "You have NO idea… Okay, it's like this…" She stopped, thought for a moment, then said "Actually, you'd better be sitting down first."

They found a large boulder and sat down next to each other. Eric looked at Hay Lin intently, and she said "You remember the dance of course? I doubt anyone who was there will ever forget. Judas and his friends came busting in, and the then Guardians showed up to fight them…"

"Yeah, that was kinda scary, but awesome too." Eric agreed. "Kinda makes you wonder who they really are doesn't it?"

"Um… Yeah… That's where I'm going with this…"

"It is? Wait, you mean… You know who they are? How?"

"Oh yeah, I know who they are. And the 'how' of how I know is… They're my friends and me."

"Wait what? No, that can't be right Hay Lin… I saw them and I saw you."

"Yeah, about that. The thing of it is, what you remember isn't quite right. See, you found out the truth that night. Everyone from school did. And after it was over, everyone who found out that way was magically made to forget, in order to keep us and our families safe."

Shaking his head, Eric said "I still can't believe this. I know what I saw!"

"Seeing is believing eh?" Hay Lin asked. "Okay, do me a favor: close your eyes for a second." Eric did so, and Hay Lin turned invisible then said "Okay, you can look."

Eric opened his eyes. "Hey! Where'd you go?"

"I'm right here in front of you."

"You're hiding somewhere."

"If you really think so, get up and come find me." Hay Lin teased.

Grinning, Eric stood and took two steps forward before colliding with something he couldn't see. He stopped. Reached out and felt Hay Lin's shoulders and down her arms. As his hands reached hers she turned visible again. Eric stumbled backwards and sat down hard on the rock.

"Well..." he said after a long silence, "I guess that really does explain why you've had to keep running off."

"Are you okay?" Hay Lin asked quietly.

"I dunno Hay. This is a lot to take in. I mean, you've been lying to me for as long as we've been going out. And then you tell me you can mess with memories too? How can I trust you?"

"Well, Eric, the memory thing wasn't really any of us."

"Fair enough. Still, even if it's not you someone connected to you did it."

"Eric, I'm sorry. But I'm telling you the truth now! And you're not the only one who didn't know, Nigel and Joel haven't known either!"

"That's what this trip was really all about then?" Eric asked. He stood up and started to walk back towards the camp.

"Eric…? Are we…?"

"I'm honestly not sure Hay Lin. I need time to think." Eric walked away and Hay Lin sat on the boulder and cried…

WWWWWWW

===Elyon and Joel===

Following the eastern trail, Elyon and Joel made their way to a narrow valley with a creek running lazily through the bottoms. They sat by the waterside and Elyon leaned back into Joel's arms. They talked of nothing for nearly half an hour before the Queen worked up the courage to say what she needed to say. "Joel?"

"Yeah El?"

She pulled away from his hold, turned to face him. "You know, you've seen a lot of strange things happen since we met. First there was all the weirdness with my friends chasing you off at the carnival. Then I was gone for a long time. I'm always running off on our dates, and then what happened at the dance…"

"This is true. It's almost like there's some connection to it all."

"More than almost. Joel… my friends are the Guardians."

Unlike Nigel and Eric, Joel seemed to have an easier time with this part of the truth. "Then why do I remember seeing them and the Guardians?" He asked, "Unless it was an illusion to keep their identities secret?"

"Not quite an illusion, but the same end result." Elyon explained.

"Huh. So if they're the Guardians, okay, but where do you figure in?"

"Alborn and Miriabelle Brown aren't my real parents. I'm adopted. I have an older brother, he killed our real parents and tried to kill me when I was a newborn. The Browns got me away and kept me safe. When the girls ran you off that night, it was because my brother had found out where I was and they mistook you for someone working for him. They were just trying to keep me safe."

"Wow… I guess I owe them an apology for being so mad at what they did, it sounds like they had a good reason for it."

Elyon smiled. "Thanks for being so understanding. But we're not done yet, there's more. My brother and me, the Browns and Caleb and Miranda too, we're not exactly native to earth. Our home planet is one of the other worlds the Guardians protect, which is how they got caught up in everything, and where I was when I vanished for those few months." Joel nodded, following Elyon's explanation. She continued " And… though I wasn't at the time, it's not just my friends that are the Guardians. I have some Guardian powers now too." She demonstrated with a flourish of lights.

Joel reached out, took Elyon's hand. "Thanks for telling me the truth."

"You're not upset at me for keeping it a secret so long?"

"A part of me wants to be… But, dang it, I can see the reasons why you might need to keep things secret too. So, your world, was it the one we saw through that big rift-thing in the sky that night?"

"No, that was Kandrakar. The world the Guardian's powers come from. My world is called Meridian. I'll take you there sometime if you want."

"I'd like that." Joel answered. Elyon turned and eased back into his arms as he said "There's nothing else is there?"

"Well…" Elyon cautiously began, "There is one other small detail…"

WWWWWWW

Some time later, everyone was back at the campsite. Taranee, Nigel, Cassidy, and Elyon attempted to comfort Hay Lin while Alborn and Peter spoke with Eric. Joel sat nearby, repeatedly saying variations of "I can't believe I'm dating royalty."

"Come on Hay Lin, cheer up! Eric'll come around!" Cassidy said.

"Yeah, I'm okay with all of this." Nigel agreed. "I'm sure Eric'll manage it too. Right Joel?"

Joel looked up. "Oh sure. After all it's just the Guardian bit for you too. I've got that and the 'alien' bit and the tiny detail of El being the queen of a whole planet… You guys got it easy."

Elyon sat down next to Joel. "I'm sorry for all of this. Maybe we should've kept our mouths shut for good. But it seemed right."

"It was right." Joel said. "Look, El… I really like you and I'm not going anywhere. I just need time to process all of this."

"Hay Lin?" Everyone looked up to see Eric standing before his girlfriend. Hay Lin stood and he grabbed her and hugged tight.

"What did you say to him?" Taranee asked Alborn.

"It was Peter actually." Alborn replied. "He just got Eric to think about how he would feel if something bad happened to Hay Lin while he was ignoring her."

"Looks like it worked." Cassidy said.

"Well, y'know, it was coming from personal experience. How I felt turning my back on Cass." Peter explained.

Eric and Hay Lin separated slightly but continued holding hands. "Sorry I got so upset."

"It's okay… I probably would have too, if things were reversed. We're good?"

"We're better than good." Eric smiled.

"All that leaves is you Joel." Cassidy said.

Joel shook his head. "Yeah, about that. What Peter said, did that mean you're a Guardian too? And he got upset when he found out?"

"I am, but that's not what upset Peter." Cassidy said. "See, the thing with me is, I was dead."

Joel stared straight at her. "What? You mean like one of those die a few minutes before they revive you deals?"

"Nope, more like murdered and dead for forty years before the same evil witch that killed me decided to magically bring me back."

"Kinda makes the royalty angle seem tame by comparison doesn't it?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, I'll say." Joel nodded. "El, I meant what I said. I'm not going anywhere. This is just so much to wrap a mind around all at once."

"I know." Elyon said, sitting down next to Joel. "Is there anything that would help?"

"I need to sleep on this for now. Maybe in the morning though, we could go see this 'Meridian?'"

"Hey yeah, we could all go if Eric and Nigel wanna come too!" Hay Lin exclaimed.

"I'm game." Nigel said, and Eric indicated the same.

WWWWWWW

And so the following morning everyone arose and gathered around the extinguished camp fire. Joel seemed much better for his rest, and everyone was happy again. "So, exactly how to you go from one world to another?" Eric asked.

"Spatial folds." Taranee answered. "we've encountered technology that can open them, but it's usually done with magic; Will and Elyon can both do it."

Taking this as her cue, Elyon opened a fold to Meridian and taking Joel by the hand led him through. Everyone else followed, and found themselves in Meridian's capitol city, on the processional bridge which connected the city with the palace.

"Incredible…" Eric whispered.

"You should have seen it before Elyon took charge." Hay Lin said. "Phobos turned the place into a nightmare."

"Phobos…? The brother you mentioned?" Joel asked.

"The less said the better." Elyon said, then shook her head. "Enough talk of Phobos. We're here to have a good day. C'mon ladies, let's show the guys around!"

"Now you're talking!" Taranee laughed.

And so the couples spent the remainder of the day together in Meridan, enjoying the company, the atmosphere, and the new air of truth between them…


End file.
